Athletic helmets are worn by participants in many sports and activities such as American football, ice hockey, cricket, and baseball and softball. In American football, for instance, a face guard is commonly coupled to the helmet in order to provide some level of protection to the wearer's face. The coupling between the face guard and helmet is typically a rigid one. Consequently, when the face guard is struck by an opponent amid play or impacted in some other way, the resulting forces are transmitted from the face guard and through the coupling and through the helmet to the wearer.